doclinkin wrote:'Blake Griffin, with better defense'
See, it's the "with better defense" part that has me questioning. I don't doubt Zion on offense for a second. He isn't as versatile as some stars but he's going to be a star nonetheless. Defensively, he really needs to be able to play like a wing there in order to be better than Griffin in any sense that matters. If he's Blake Griffin's offense with Aaron Gordon's defense, how good is that?
More importantly, what kind of conditioning does he have to actually put up that kind of effort on both ends of the floor for 33+ mpg in an 82 game season? Those are questions that I think have trickier answers than a lot of people are willing to admit. It isn't even about injuries. There are very, very few players who have anything remotely close to that level of conditioning. James Harden went from being an excellent defender to a good defender who gets crapped on for his effort when he went from being a bench spark to being a full-time offensive focal point. It wasn't that Harden got worse. It was that he's one of the smartest players in the league where playing basketball is concerned and he understands that he can't possibly push himself that much on both ends of the floor that often and so picks and chooses his spots where he can be most effective and doesn't care what fans think. Lebron has been coasting on defense for quite some time now, too. Zion might be unique in his capability to handle that kind of load but he's only playing 26 mpg in a much shorter season right now. I'm not so sure it's a given he's going to be able to exert himself the way you're suggesting because no player is and Zion isn't showing signs of being exceptional in that respect.
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